1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the manufacture of integrated circuits and, more specifically, to barrier films which are employed to prevent atomic and ionic migration between two adjacent layers which must be conductively coupled.
2. State of the Art
For a particular design of an ultra-high-density dynamic random access memory, the integration of a capacitor having a high-permittivity dielectric layer in a CMOS process flow requires that contact be made between a platinum lower capacitor plate and a polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) plug which makes contact to the storage node junction of the cell access transistor. The dielectric layer, which may be a perovskite oxide such as barium strontium titanate, is deposited at high temperatures in ambient oxygen.
There are two problems inherent to the dielectric deposition process. The first problem is that the high temperature required for the deposition will initiate a silicidation reaction between platinum and silicon, thus consuming the platinum capacitor plate and contaminating the capacitor with silicon. It is, therefore, necessary to utilize an electrically conductive diffusion barrier between the platinum and the polysilicon. The second problem is that oxygen will diffuse through the platinum layer and form an insulative silicon dioxide layer between the polysilicon plug and the platinum layer. In such a case, the lower plate of the capacitor will not be in electrical contact with the storage-node junction. Thus, the diffusion barrier must also be impermeable to oxygen.
Reactively sputtered titanium nitride has been used extensively as a barrier layer in integrated circuits. However, reactively sputtered titanium nitride has a crystalline structure and does not exhibit good step coverage, particularly in deep contact openings. The crystal boundaries associated with such a structure tend to promote ionic and atomic migration. Given this fact, the polysilicon plugs will not be sufficiently protected from reaction with the platinum capacitor plate or with oxygen.
Titanium nitride deposited via low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) using tetrakis-dimethylamidotitanium or related compounds as the sole precursor is an amorphous material, having no crystal structure and, therefore, no crystal grain boundaries to facilitate atomic and ionic diffusion. However, titanium nitride films deposited via LPCVD have a high carbon content. From X-Ray spectrographic analysis, it appears that some of the carbon atoms have reacted with the titanium to form titanium carbide. The balance of the carbon atoms appears to be unreacted, but trapped, nevertheless, in the titanium nitride/titanium carbide matrix. It is hypothesized that a crystalline structure fails to form because the presence of carbon interferes with crystal nucleation. The presence of carbon, though likely responsible for the amorphous structure of the film (a beneficial quality), is also problematic, as it greatly increases the sheet resistance of the film. In addition, when the carbon-containing films are subjected to high temperatures in the presence of oxygen, the films become perforated and, hence, worthless as barrier films. The perforation phenomenon may be caused by the explosive formation of carbon dioxide gas within the film.
What is needed is a way to combine the beneficial qualities of both reactively-sputtered titanium nitride with those of titanium nitride deposited via LPCVD.
This invention is a process for forming an effective titanium nitride barrier layer between the upper surface of a polysilicon plug and a platinum lower capacitor plate in a dynamic random access memory. The memory, which is fabricated on a silicon wafer or substrate, has insulated gate field effect cell access transistors with polysilicon gates which may have a layer of a refractory metal silicide (e.g., tungsten silicide) on their upper surfaces to lower sheet resistance. The transistors are covered with a planarized, thick, flowably deposited dielectric layer such as borophosphosilicate glass (BPSG). A via or contact opening is etched through the thick dielectric layer (the term xe2x80x9cthickxe2x80x9d is employed merely to distinguish this dielectric layer from the subsequently deposited capacitive dielectric layer) to the storage-node junction of each access transistor, and each of these openings is filled with a polysilicon plug. To begin the barrier layer formation process, the upper surface of each polysilicon plug is recessed at least 1000 xc3x85 below the upper surface of the thick dielectric layer using a selective polysilicon etch. Using a collimated sputter source, a titanium layer having a thickness of 100-500 xc3x85 is deposited over the surface of the in-process wafer, thus covering the upper surfaces of the polysilicon plugs. A layer of amorphous titanium carbonitride having a thickness of 100-300 xc3x85 is then deposited via low-pressure chemical vapor deposition. This is followed by the deposition of a reactively sputtered titanium nitride layer having a thickness of 1000-2000 xc3x85. The wafer is then planarized using chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) to remove the titanium, titanium carbonitride and titanium nitride, except that which is in the recesses on top of the silicon plugs. The wafer is then annealed in nitrogen using a rapid thermal anneal system to react the titanium layer with the silicon on the upper surfaces of the plugs to form titanium silicide. The anneal step also repairs damage sustained by the titanium nitride layer during the CMP step. A platinum layer is then deposited and patterned to form lower capacitor electrodes which are electrically coupled to the polysilicon plugs through the titanium silicide, titanium nitride and titanium carbonitride layers. A high permittivity capacitor dielectric layer is then deposited and the capacitors are completed by depositing an upper cell plate layer. The memory is then completed in a conventional manner.